How JetBlue can recover from its tailspin

Remember 2002? It was the year after the horrific events of 9/11. The airline industry had taken a figurative nosedive. The United States was about to go to war. The economy was in the toilet. One of the only bright spots was a growing low-fare carrier called JetBlue.

The news media warmly embraced David Neeleman and his airline. Just have a look at this section of JetBlue’s 2002 annual report to see how unconditional our love was.

Many reporters dropped all pretenses of objectivity and offered the airline their undying loyalty. And to get an idea of how serious we were, remember how we more or less shrugged off a report that JetBlue had turned over its customer database to a defense subcontractor.

Even my own coverage on this site lacked the skepticism that it’s known for. In a Q&A interview, I tossed Neeleman a lot of easy questions.

Maybe I took a few swigs of the Blue Kool-Aid. Sorry about that, folks.

So now Neeleman is on the media’s black list. With no more saccharine quotes from reporters and pundits (“Getting people to come back again — that’s the magic, and that’s where JetBlue’s strength is.”) to sustain him, Neeleman has to do some serious damage control.

He can do it. Neeleman is a former journalist, and his airline is still better than most of his competitors. As someone who has seen his mistakes plastered across the front page, and lived to tell the tale, here’s my advice:

Get a hold of yourself. Don’t go crying to reporters in interviews. Come on. You’re the CEO, and people are looking to you to be strong, not vulnerable. That kind of thing doesn’t spin well in the blogosphere, even if it’s genuine. (And for the record, I think it’s real. Been there!)

Don’t promise the world just to get the world off your back. Now, David, this whole homegrown Passenger Bill of Rights you’re thinking of introducing tomorrow. Don’t go crazy. Remember, you still have a terrific airline. And all that stuff I wrote about JetBlue being a legacy carrier — take that with a grain of salt. You’re better than that. It’s deeds, not words that passengers want. Maybe you could just start by uncancelling some of those flights?

Shut up. At a time like this, you don’t want to be doing the talkshow circuit. That’s a no-win proposition. You want to be communicating with your best customers — the TrueBlue members and the folks who were trapped on the tarmac at JFK. I would start by calling every one of those passengers yourself. You might consider writing to these folks, too.

For what it’s worth, I think JetBlue is going to make it through this. Some of my media colleagues, who perhaps feel they were suckered into lowering their guard a few years ago, might disagree.

But who cares? It’s how JetBlue’s customers feel that matters.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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